Charter bans Estrada from 2010 polls
MANILA,
Philippines — Former president Joseph Estrada is prohibited from
seeking reelection under the Constitution, Senator Richard Gordon said
Thursday, laughing off news reports of Estrada’s plan to run in the
2010 polls.
“He should run just to test whether the Filipino people really wants change, or simply wants to be entertained,” he said.
Gordon
admitted that he himself has been thinking about running for the
highest position in the land. “I’m available to run for president and
I’ve been thinking about it. I am no hypocrite,” he said, noting that
since becoming mayor of Olongapo City, he had always brought the people
up the social and economic scale and not just make broken promises.
Gordon,
although affiliated with the majority in the Senate, has said that he
was not with the administration and warned the political opposition
about Estrada’s announced intention to run again for president.
“Surely, if Erap runs, that would divide the opposition, wouldn’t it?” said Gordon, referring to Estrada by his nickname.
He
said the primary issue that would be raised against Estrada as a
presidential candidate in the 2010 elections would be his record as
president, especially his conviction for plunder.
“For me, what
is important is the reaction of the Filipinos nationally to Estrada’s
candidacy. Although we pitied him when he was under detention, we
should first consider our sense of justice before our sense of pity,”
he said in Filipino.
“While we all condemn graft and corruption,
this is the first time that a president in our country who has been
sentenced [for corruption] but has not spent a single day in [state]
prison,” he said.
The possibility of Gordon and Cebu Governor
Gwendolyn Garcia running together for president and vice president,
respectively, in the 2010 election, has been raised.
